1. Field of the Invention
With regard to the classification of art, this invention is believed to be found in the general class for Supports and more particularly to those subclasses pertaining to the removable mounting of a car shaker vibrator to a railroad car.
2. Description of Related Art
Railroad hopper cars are used to transport various types of material such as; coal, cement, chemicals, flour, grains and the like. Usually, transporting the material from one site to another results in compaction thereof. After compaction, the materials generally are jammed and do not flow easily upon the opening of the hopper car discharge gate or gates. Generally a car-shaker vibrator is removably attached to the railroad hopper car for breaking loose the jammed material and maintaining its flow until the car is nearly emptied. Removable or detachable vibratory railroad car shaker apparatus are known in the field. Exemplary brackets and tools for the removable mounting of a vibrator to a railroad car are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,003,733 that issued to Petersen on Oct. 10, 1961; U.S. Pat. No. 3,463,431 that issued to Matson on Aug. 26, 1969; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,588 that issued to Wadensten on May 9, 2000. These patents disclose a common type of separable male/female bracket arrangement. Usually the female portion of the bracket is attached to a hopper portion of a railroad car. This type of bracket is sometimes referred to as a Gardner or Tyler type and generally has a C-shaped seat or pocket portion (i.e. a wedge, dovetail or the like.) The male portion generally may be characterized as a T-shape that has a blade member (i.e. male wedge, male dovetail or the like) and a reduced connector portion (i.e. web, neck, leg and the like). U.S. Pat. No. 3,003,733 also discloses a wedge shaped tool for separating the male portion from the female portion of the bracket. U.S. Pat. No. 3,463,431 discloses a threaded means for retaining the male portion of the bracket in the female portion of the bracket. U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,588 that issued to the present inventor and is solely owned by him discloses a tool that may be employed for releasing the wedge from the female portion or half.
There must be a close fit between the male portion and the female portion in order for the vibrator to work effectively and efficiently. As previously mentioned above, the female portion of the bracket is usually fixed to the railroad car by a suitable means such as welding and the like and therefore remains with the railroad car as it is moved to various yards, unloading sites or locations. Whereas, the vibrator and the male half of the bracket should remain at a particular site for unloading the railroad car. It can be appreciated that in use, the female portion of the bracket and the male portion may not be exactly mated because they come from different bracket manufacturers, car shaker manufactures and/or in fact one or both of the parts of the bracket may be worn or oxidized. Any looseness in the connection will not allow the full vibratory force to be transmitted into the hopper car. Furthermore excessive looseness will most likely result in further wear of the male portion and/or the female portion. It is probably not desirable or economically feasible to remove all the hopper cars with worn brackets from service to repair or replace the female portion of the bracket.
Another problem that may occur is that if the crew is unsuccessful in removing the vibrator and the male bracket from the car, the vibrator and the male bracket will then travel with the railroad car to a new location. The work gang or crew may or may not have a spare vibrator to attach to another railroad car to be unloaded. The work gang may never see the vibrator again. Any permanent loss of the vibrator results in a loss of inventory and money. Permanent or temporary loss of a vibrator requires that spare vibrators be on hand thereby adding to operating costs.
It has been determined that there is still a need to provide a male bracket assembly that is useable with various types of vibrators and with a variety of female bracket portions. This determination has been made from the inquiries that have been made to the present inventor by various end users. These end users require that the bracket assembly tightly fit into the existing female bracket while having the ability for easy removal thereof after its use. The present invention provides such a bracket assembly and satisfies the identified need by providing a male portion of the wedge assembly that easily fits into the female wedge portion and securing itself in place by being selectively expanded by an expanding force. The male portion is removable from the female portion by removing or lessening the expanding force and allowing the male portion to contract or collapse.